Monday, January 18, 2010

The Great Stink

The year is 1855 and London's notorious sewage system is going to undergo a complete renovation. It is much needed as the current tunnels are stinky and decaying to the point of collapse.

William May is an engineer just returned from the Crimean War. The war affected him to the point where he finds his only salvation to to cut his wrists down in the tunnels. This seems to keep the ghosts at bay and allows May to lead an almost normal life. When asked to become involved in a kickback scheme May refuses and eventually is accused of the murder of one of the suppliers of brick.

Long Arm Tom is a person who trolls the tunnels for valuables. He is asked by the Captain to do hide the body of the supplier. Tom is William's only hope of a normal life and really of any life at all. What will happen??

I enjoyed the historical part of this book and found the information about the sewers and the people of this era fascinating. The mystery however was a bit slow to start and I found my interest floundering a bit

First Line: "Where the channel snaked to the right it was no longer possible to stand upright, despite the abrupt drop in the gradient."

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About Me

Thanks for visiting! I'm Lauren (Hoser) and have been blogging books since 2006 from Ontario, Canada. I shared this blog with my mom (AceofHearts) until 2013 when she lost her battle with cancer and now continue to carry on this blog in her memory.

My favourite types of books are ones that can't really be defined any better than general fiction. You'll see me reading a lot of mystery, historical fiction, and some non-fiction as well.